The project in the Lofdal area would be Japan’s first rare earth project in Africa.
Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security (JOGMEC) has decided to invest up to $34 million (CAD$47.668 million) in TJ Namibia Rare Earths Corporation, a special purpose company trading house Toyota Tsusho has established to carry out its heavy rare earth development project in Namibia’s Lofdal area, the two companies announced Thursday. The initial investment tranche was executed on July 23.
As we reported when Toyota Tsusho first joined the project in March, the trading house won a competitive tender for part of JOGMEC’s option interest in Lofdal, which JOGMEC has run jointly with Canada’s Namibia Critical Metals since 2020.
The Lofdal deposit in Namibia’s Kunene region holds substantial heavy rare earth resources, including dysprosium and terbium, used in permanent magnets for applications such as automobile motors. The companies will now conduct a definitive feasibility study, with a final decision on commercialization targeted during the current Japanese fiscal year, ending March 2027.
If it proceeds to production, the mine would be Japan’s first rare earth development in Africa, according to JOGMEC. The project comes as Tokyo works to diversify critical mineral supply chains amid tightening Chinese export controls on heavy rare earths and related magnets. The Namibia project follows a 2023 cooperation agreement between Japan and Namibia on rare-earth exploration and supply-chain development.
Photo: iStock/butenkow
